Sioux Falls Animal Sanctuary
by Dancingdog
Summary: Sam and Dean have been working at their mother's Animal Sanctuary as long as they can remember, but when Mary dies and John wants to sell the sanctuary along with the animals, can the two brothers prove their father wrong about the place being a waste of money? Possibly, with the help of two other brothers who are facing problems of their own... (Many major characters are animals!)
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I don't own SPN or its characters._

Brush in hand, Dean grinned as the Shire horse nudged his side. Benny was rather insistent that he deserved a treat if Dean was going to carry on sweeping the hay up from the stable corridor. The other horses in the corridor chewed absently on their feed as they watched their stable mate crane his neck into Dean's jean pocket, only for him to be swatted away again with a laugh.

"No, Benny! You're not getting one."

The black and white powerhouse nickered softly in irritation.

"Look, if you get one, I'll have to give everyone one. If I did that, we'd have gone bankrupt years ago. Then you'd get no treats at all."

Benny's ears momentarily dropped before spotting a new way to grab the treat bag from the stable boy's pocket.

He was given a shove for his efforts.

The horse snorted quietly and hung his head pleadingly over the stable door. Dean rolled his eyes and slipped his hand into the bag, ensuring that no other animal could see, before he held his hand out to Benny.

The Shire perked up and gently took the treat, taking great joy in the way Dean scratched his haunches.

"How anyone could leave you to starve in that muddy field, I'll never understand," mused Dean as he remembered the state the horse had been brought into the sanctuary and the pictures of his old accommodation that had accompanied him.

The field his original owner had left him in had a sparse amount of grass, with most of the area being dominated by mud and faeces. The photos had shown empty feed buckets and filthy water troughs, where flies and maggots roamed freely.

Benny himself had been so emaciated that his hip bones were almost poking through his skin and each rib was clearly visible under what little hair hadn't rotted away. His hooves were overgrown and covered with holes, the wounds healing over infections which had never been cleaned.

Dean scowled at the memory of Benny's field mate who had been too far gone to save. She'd died of starvation.

He opened the Shire horse's stable and ran his hand firmly down Benny's leg. The horse happily picked his feet up for Dean to check them as he had another go at pulling the treat bag from his human's pocket.

Dean repeated this process for each leg until he was satisfied and moved on to the ribs. He ran his hand gently down Benny chest, abdomen and stomach to make sure that the horse was gaining enough weight for his breed. Content in the knowledge that he was, Dean closed the stable door behind him and returned his brush and shovel to the storage room, only to return back to the stable to grab the treat bag Benny had managed to snag from his jeans.

* * *

Jo giggled as Balthazar pressed against her leg, his long, bushy tail wrapping itself around her ankles.

"He's so friendly, I just wanna take him home and cuddle up to him."

Sam snorted, "You might have to. He's got so used to people I doubt he's ever going to adapt to being back in the wild. And it's not as if anyone else is going to take him."

Jo frowned. "You don't know that, Sam. There's still time to get people to visit. You never know, one day we might have a load of people come in to adopt."

"Before or after we close permanently?"

"We're not going to close, Sam. We'll find a way to make a bigger profit. We can advertise."

"We've not got the money to advertise."

Jo was quiet for a few moments as she watched Sam fill the cats' food bowls.

"Where would all the animals go if we were to close?"

Sam pulled a face.

"Where do you think?"

The blonde bit her lip as she watched the young fox at her feet.

"I don't know what I would do if anything like that happened to Balthazar," she whispered.

"Then take him home."

"You know my landlord won't let me keep pets."

"Tell him it's for a good cause."

"Sam..."

"I know, I know. I just don't want to see these animals destroyed."

"We'll find a way to pay the bills. We have to."

* * *

"Shut that door, Ash! I'm not havin' that mangy cat strollin' through the house again!"

Ellen snickered as Crowley slipped through the narrow gap and leapt gracefully onto the kitchen counter.

"Looks like he's thwarted you again, Bobby."

Bobby groaned when he saw the smug face of the Burmese proudly licking its paw.

"You've got nothin' to be proud of you scraggy stray."

With a flick of his fluffy tail, Crowley jumped onto the table and into Bobby's lap, where he curled up for a quick nap.

"Admit it old man, you have a soft spot for him," chuckled Ash as he opened up the fridge to grab yesterday's pizza.

"I do not and I wish you would stop leavin' your rottin' dinner in the fridge."

"It's Dean's fridge and he said I could put whatever I want in there and that includes my 'rotting dinner'," retorted Ash as he dropped the stone cold pizza onto the table.

Crowley opened one eye and looked at the offending object in disgust before nestling more comfortably into Bobby's lap.

"It's Sam's fridge too and even Crowley doesn't like it."

"Crowley is an animal who wouldn't know high quality food if it fell from the sky."

Two bright yellow eyes glared at Ash before the Burmese got to his feet and left the building through the open window above the sink.

"What's got into him?" Asked Ash through a mouthful of pizza, for which he received a smack on the back of the head from Ellen.

"I think you offended 'im."

"He's just a cat. He doesn't understand what we're saying."

"I have my doubts about that one."

A moment later, Crowley was back through the window and on the table in front of Ash's pizza box, where he promptly dropped a dead mouse on the lid and stalked back into Bobby's lap.

Ash stared at the deceased creature, shrugged and carried on eating.

"You're disgusting, you know that?" Bobby said as he subconsciously ran his fingers through a purring Crowley's fur.

It was at that point that Dean, covered head to foot in hay and smelling of haylage, walked into the farmhouse.

"You been with the horses boy?" Asked Bobby.

"What gave it away?"

"Lucky guess."

Dean marched to the fridge only to recoil in revulsion at the smell emanating from it.

"Ughh...Ash, what have you had in here?"

"Why do you assume it's me?"

The eldest Winchester reached to the back of the fridge and pulled something out.

"Because no one else leaves their month-old, half-eaten sardines in here."

Sam pushed through the door with Jo trailing behind.

"Dean, we... what is that smell?"

"Sardines."

"Right... listen, the tax office has sent us another letter."

"Not another. What's it say?"

"It's on the counter. Another one about needing to get our bills sorted out and there's also a reminder about electricity, water and heating."

Dean cursed quietly as he opened the letter and read the part about how they only had another eight months to get the money together before they were shut down for good.

"Do they even realise we're a charity, not a business?" Growled Dean.

"They do, they just don't care," sighed Sam as he cracked open an egg for lunch.

Dean rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

"Maybe dad was right. Maybe we really aren't cut out for this sort of thing. Maybe we should have looked for a proper job, Sammy."

There was an eerie silence as five pairs of eyes locked on to the elder Winchester. Even Crowley had raised his head to stare judgingly at the human when he sensed the attention shift in the room.

"Your daddy was a lot of things, but right ain't one of them," said Ellen in a hushed tone.

"Mom could do this so easily. She'd have time for every single animal and somehow make a profit. Now all we've got is a little pet shop, twelve boarding animals and over five hundred rescues and strays. We don't even get an income from the rescues and strays and we barely get any donations; nobody knows about us!"

"You can do it, Son. The sanctuary has expanded in rescues and strays a great deal since when your mom used to work around here. You're doing a great job," assured Bobby.

"Ignore your father. He was never interested in this place even when your mom was around," he muttered as he took another bite from his sandwich.

Dean glanced to Sam, who smiled half-heartedly, before looking out the window to the stables where all fifty-four horses were munching happily at their feed.

"I just don't see how we can turn this place around."


	2. Chapter 2

"Hi! Heard you had quite a few dogs so I was hoping I could take a look."

Sam smiled at the short, blonde-haired man in front of the counter. He had an easy-going grin and an amiable tone in his voice, which made the guy hard not to like.

"Sure, let me just call one of the others to help the gentleman behind you."

Just as he was reaching for the walkie-talkie attached to his hip, the shorter man held his hand up.

"'S'alright, Cas here's with me."

The dark-haired man in the trench coat glanced up and gave a small smile before focusing his attention on something else in the shop.

"Alright then, follow me," Sam said as he led the way to the kennels, "What type of dog are you looking for?"

"Not sure really. Just a companion for when Cas isn't around. It can get a little lonely when there's no brother to harass," chuckled the blonde as his brother glared at him.

Sam grinned, "Tell me about it. My older brother, Dean, works here and I'm sure one day he's just gonna dump the whole kennels worth of dogs in our house just to stop me from bugging him."

The shorter man laughed and held out his hand.

"Well your brother sounds pretty awesome. Name's Gabriel, by the way."

Sam shook his hand firmly, "Sam."

"Right then, Sam, you'll have to introduce me to your canine buddies," said Gabriel as they reached the first kennel door.

"First up we have Raphael the Rottweiler. He was rescued from a dog fighting ring where he was bred to attack many different types of dogs. He has a few scars but isn't a bad looking dog overall. The only problem is he can be a little antisocial with both humans and other dogs and can get quite aggressive when provoked," informed Sam as the large animal turned his back on the three humans.

"Next there's Alfie, our two year old Golden Retriever. His owner was an elderly lady who didn't really have the room to keep such a big dog. He was fine as a pup, but as he started to grow she began to realise that she couldn't provide him with enough space. His original name was 'Samandriel', but what kind of name is that for a dog?"

Both Gabriel and Cas nodded in agreement as the young dog bounded up to the kennel door, tail wagging and tongue lolling happily out of his mouth.

"He seems friendly," commented Cas.

"Very friendly. He'll love you forever if you grace him with a pet and a belly rub," smiled Sam as he pulled a small dog biscuit from the treat bag on his belt and handed it to the eager Retriever.

"I'll come back to you," Gabriel told the playful dog, which earned him an even more determined tail wag.

"We also have Rufus: an elderly St. Bernard. He's another one who was kicked out because of his size, except he was left to die by the roadside. We found him chained to a lamppost. He's not violent or aggressive, just a bit old and grumpy," continued Sam as they moved to the next door.

The St. Bernard looked up disinterestedly before lowering his head to finish his nap.

"Garth's next. The Dalmatian who was found locked up in a rotting shed with no water. He was killing the rats that crawled in for food. We thought he'd be aggressive but he's actually quite clumsy. He's always happy though, so that's a plus."

Just as Sam was finished, the Dalmatian sauntered over to the kennel door and managed to knock his water bowl over in the process.

Gabriel couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter at the dog's confused facial expression.

"Hey, Sammy! Think you could give me a hand with-? Oh. Sorry, didn't realise you were with someone," Dean interrupted himself as he came around the corner and spotted the two men trailing behind his younger brother.

"Give me a few minutes and I'll help you. Gabriel and Cas are here to adopt a dog," said Sam as he gestured to each man in turn.

The elder Winchester nodded his head before sheepishly confessing, "It's just that Lilith has... uhhh... broken free... again..."

Sam blinked disbelievingly.

"Again? Dean, that's the third time this week! How far has she got?"

"The creek."

"...That's ten kilometres away."

"She's a quick runner."

"Of course she is! She's an Arabian horse! It's a racing breed!"

"Yeah... That's great and all but... err... how am I gonna catch her?"

Sam sighed in such a distressed way that both Cas and Gabe had to take pity on him.

"If you wish, I could assist you in recapturing her whilst my brother makes his decision on a new pet," offered Cas.

Both Winchesters bit their lips as they studied the trench coat clad man's form.

"No, we can't expect you to do that. Can't you ask one of the others, Dean?" Asked Sam as he was already making plans on how to help his brother herd the unruly mare back into her boarding stable.

"Sorry, I can't; Jo's home sick, Bobby's dealing with a hedgehog that refuses to eat, Ellen's on bird cleaning duty and Ash is terrible with horses. That leaves you," recited Dean.

Sam frowned before turning to Gabriel and his brother.

"I'm sorry about this, but Lilith's owner will throw a fit if he finds out about her escaping and I don't know how long it will take to catch her," he said as he watched another visitor holding a shoebox enter reception.

Gabe tracked the younger Winchester's gaze before reassuring him, "It's okay, but if you've got another customer to deal with I'm sure Cassie here will be alright with helping your brother catch your wild horse. In the meantime, I can wait," he grinned.

Dean watched the younger brother sceptically.

"You ever worked with a horse before?"

"No, but I'm willing to learn on the job if you're willing to teach."

Sam gaped, "Dean, you can't be serious! He's a visitor, not a worker: it's too dangerous!"

Dean's gaze softened, "He's right. Lilith is one nasty beast to work with. You'll have to be really careful; she's very powerful and a harsh kicker as a few of our staff have found out."

The blue-eyed man nodded determinedly.

"I'm a quick learner."

The older Winchester couldn't help but smirk; this guy may come across as shy, but he was actually quite confident, brave even.

"Well then, Sammy. You tend to Shortstack and Shoebox over there and we'll see about a certain Arabian horse," grinned Dean as he gripped Cas' shoulder to steer him towards his precious '67 Impala.

Sam's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"...Dean! Wait!"

But Sam's words went unheeded as Dean started the old Chevy's engine and began his journey to the creek, horse trailer being towed effortlessly behind.

"...'Shortstack'?" Gabe repeated in an offended manner.

Sam rolled his eyes.

"He has a habit of giving people stupid nicknames when he's happy. He doesn't mean any offence by it."

Gabriel nodded in understanding, plots already forming to annoy the elder Winchester upon his return, before gesturing to the awaiting customer inside the small shop.

"You want to answer that?"

Sam smiled apologetically and strode quickly to the reception area.

"I won't be long."

* * *

Dean tapped to the beat of Asia's 'Heat of the Moment' as both he and Cas sat in an awkward silence.

"So... Cas, huh?"

"Castiel," the other man corrected quickly before elaborating, "My full name is Castiel Novak but my brother tends to call me 'Cas' for short."

"Oh. Sorry."

"You don't need to apologise."

A few tense moments passed between the two men. Castiel was the first to break the quiet.

"There are only six of you that work at the sanctuary?"

"Yeah: Me, Sammy, Jo, Ellen, Bobby and Ash."

"That's a lot of work for six people."

"It can be a bit of a grind to care for over five hundred animals, but as long as they're safe, healthy and happy, it's worth it," grinned Dean.

Cas smiled. "I can see you love you're job," the smile morphed into a slight frown, "Wish I could say the same of mine."

"What do you do? If you don't mind me asking."

"Nothing as interesting as what you do. I sell ad time on AM radio and yes, it is as boring as it sounds, possibly worse."

Dean winced slightly, "Tough break, man."

Castiel hummed in agreement. "Someone's got to do it. My brother on the other hand is very interested in his job. Working in a candy store is convenient for someone with such a strong sweet tooth."

Dean grinned. "Guess I'll be visiting your brother soon, then. He sounds like my kinda guy."

"No doubt you'd both get on incredibly well."

A few minutes later and Dean had spotted their escapee.

"There she is!"

"You may have to guide me through how to go about catching her," stated Cas as they approached the tall, gleaming white beast.

"Sorry, man, we're just gonna have to try and loop the bridle over her head, but she's not gonna like it and will probably kick up a bit of a fuss. A.K.A flee if she gets too aggressive," said Dean as he reached into the back of the car to get the leading bridle.

"I hate these types of animals," he muttered as an afterthought as Lilith's ears pricked up upon their arrival.

The mare began to stamp her front hoof as the two humans came closer, bridle in hand and when she noticed how Dean was subtly herding her towards the other strange human, she reared, letting out a high pitched whinny and broke into a gallop.

Dean cursed quietly before shouting for Castiel to "MOVE!" in order to stop the other man's face from becoming a horse's doormat.

Cas leapt to the side and quickly tried to slide the bridle over her head, but Lilith was having none of it and easily dodged him only to knock him over with one swift jerk of her head. She proceeded to sprint a few metres across the field beside the creek, turned sharply on one hoof and galloped at full speed towards the downed Castiel, who was struggling to get to his feet.

Fortunately, Dean was quicker and jumped in front of the younger Novak, smoothly grabbing the bridle from Cas' grip and shaking it violently at the speeding Arabian.

Lilith nickered in annoyance and took another sharp turn, bucking teasingly in Dean's direction, where she then cantered in the opposite direction, only coming to a halt when she was a couple of hundred metres away from the two men.

"You okay?" Dean asked as he pulled Cas to his feet.

"I think so. She's a little frisky," replied Cas, dusting himself off.

"That's understatement of the year. Come on, we have to catch her."

When they finally caught up to the snowy mare, she looked at them disinterestedly before sauntering off in the general direction of the creek.

"Maybe we should walk beside her a fare few feet away. If we don't look at her, she may get over-confident and we'll be able to grab her," suggested Dean.

Castiel nodded and the two set off.

As the older Winchester predicted, Lilith began to get cocky and she started to pick her feet up in a showy manner, bobbing her head and lifting her tail proudly as she got into the game of avoid the humans.

There was a point when Lilith lost concentration on what the two men were doing as she raised her head high and let out a loud nicker.

Dean yanked harshly on her muzzle and shoved her head into the bridle whilst Cas, from his new vantage point at her hock, knotted the rope-style bridle tightly around her head.

Lilith panicked and tried to rear up, but Castiel held a firm grip on the leading reins and kept her grounded.

"You're not going anywhere, you demon," growled Dean, keeping a hold on the side of the bridle.

The two men managed to drag the bucking mare to the horsebox and shut the door on the enraged animal.

"Nice work, Cas," grinned Dean as the pair climbed into the car and began the journey back to the sanctuary.

* * *

"Sorry for the wait," apologised Sam as he returned to Gabriel's side, "Someone found an ill hedgehog and tried to bring it in. Unfortunately, they didn't put it on a heat pad and it died in the shoebox."

Gabriel frowned in sympathy, "Sorry."

Sam sighed heavily, "Nothing we can do now. Lets see about getting you a dog."

"Who's the Husky at the end?" The shorter man asked.

"Adam? He was found wandering the streets at night. People mistook him for a wolf and started shooting at him whenever they saw him rummaging in their bins for scraps. He's a little shy and independent and it will probably take a long time to rebuild his trust in humans, but he seems loyal and protective over those he's close to."

Gabe pulled a face that suggested he would consider it, and then asked "What about the one next to him?"

Sam grinned. "Charlie? She's another stray. Our resident Red Setter was found trying to run in a dog race full of greyhounds. She thought that chasing the rabbit was a fun game and let me tell you, she is quite the racer! She's a bundle of fun and loves pretty much everyone she comes into contact with, human or not, Unfortunately, she's been brought back to the sanctuary on three separate occasions just because each new owner couldn't deal with her energy."

Gabe's face lit up. "Could I have a look at her?"

"Sure."

Sam hooked a drawstring lead around Charlie's neck and led her out of the kennel. Immediately, Charlie's tail began to wag and she placed her front paws on Gabriel's legs, eyes bright with enthusiasm.

The blonde scratched behind her ear affectionately and the tail-wagging intensified. Sam passed Gabriel a treat to give to the dog and in reward, Sam earned a nuzzle, whilst Gabriel earned a face-licking.

Gabriel laughed and tackled the dog to the ground, scratching her belly playfully. She yipped happily and pawed at his face, loving the attention.

"I'll take her."

Sam practically beamed. Somehow, he knew this relationship was going to last.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I'm aiming for around 7 chapters and this is a particularly long one, so sorry about that. Hope you're enjoying it so far! I don't own any characters._

* * *

"Hello, stranger," came a particularly friendly voice from behind where Sam was clearing out some broken toys in the small shop.

He whirled around to meet the grinning face of customer who visited two months ago.

"Gabriel! How are you doing?" Suddenly Sam's face dropped as he spotted the Red Setter sitting obediently at the shorter man's heels.

"You've not come to bring her back, have you?"

Gabriel looked confused, as if he didn't know whom Sam was referring to, and then he must have figured it out as he glanced down at his pet.

"What? No! Charlie here's the greatest friend I ever could've asked for. Love her to bits," he said as he petted her head affectionately.

Sam relaxed. "She's treating you well then?" He asked as he cleared the last bit of broken packaging from the shelf.

"Yup! Best two months I've had!"

Charlie's tail began to wag happily as she looked up to her new owner.

"Great. What can I do for you today?"

At that moment, the bell over the door rang to announce the arrival of a second familiar figure.

"Hey, baby bro! Was work okay?"

Castiel glanced wearily up to his elder brother.

"No."

"Same as usual then?"

The man in the trench coat gave Gabriel a look that said 'why do you even bother asking?' before directing his gaze upon the other human occupant of the room.

"Hello, Sam."

"Hey, Cas. Is everything alright?"

Gabriel cut in, "His station is complaining that they're not getting enough money through ad time, so they're constantly on his back about finding new buyers."

"It's more difficult than it sounds. People are less interested in the radio now, so companies are directing their advertising attention towards television, where they are more likely to get noticed and as a result, nobody wants to 'waste money' on radio advertisements," explained Cas as he rubbed at his eyes, highlighting how much stress he was under.

Sam pulled a face in sympathy. "Sorry."

"On a slightly lighter topic, who's your friend?" Gabe asked.

Sam looked to his feet where a black Burmese cat was rubbing insistently against his shoe.

"This is Crowley. He usually just walks around the house but it seems that Bobby has finally got one up on him."

At the brothers' confused faces, Sam elaborated, "Bobby's another staff member; our sort-of-adopted uncle."

Two nods of understanding greeted his explanation and a bark of excitement came from Charlie when she noticed him. The cat's back arched in warning but smoothed back out when he realised who the dog was. He meowed quietly in greeting and padded over to investigate the new slaves he thought he'd gained.

"They're not here for your entertainment, Crowley," Sam said sternly as the cat pawed with mild interest at Castiel's trousers.

He received a bored look in reply.

"Not to press you, but was there something you needed?" Sam asked again when he finally took his eyes off the curious cat.

The two Novak brothers glanced at each other.

"Actually, we wanted to ask you that," answered Gabriel.

"Huh?"

"We noticed you don't seem to receive a lot of aid from others, so we were wondering if you'd like us to help you around the sanctuary," clarified Cas. "I finish work at two o'clock and my brother doesn't work on weekends, so if you need any help, we would be happy to oblige."

Sam looked shocked for a moment before remembering himself again.

"Sure! We'd love an extra pair of hands or two! As long as you're both okay with getting down and dirty."

Gabe wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Now you didn't say there'd be anything like that involved."

Sam chuckled. "You're gonna get on fabulously with my brother."

Cas rolled his eyes. "That's what I said to Dean."

"You gonna take us to meet the crew, Sambo?" Gabe asked, practically bouncing on his heels.

"Humans or animals?"

"Aren't they one and the same?"

By this time, all of her master's energy was being transferred to Charlie and she too looked ready to meet her old pals. She tugged on her lead and tried to pull Gabriel towards the door.

"You'll fit right in," said Sam as he led the three towards the shop door. "I guess we'd better get going."

Crowley, having lost interest now that the humans were leaving, stalked out the opened door and trotted towards the house in hopes to find his favourite crabby human.

* * *

"Hey, Ellen! You need any help on cats? We have two volunteers here," Sam asked upon spotting Ellen and her daughter filling up empty food bowls.

"Are you pullin' my leg again, Sam Winchester?" The Southern drawl floated out from behind the door.

"No, Ma'am. Castiel and Gabriel are looking for something to do and they've offered to help us out. They've never worked with any animal other than their dog," Sam stated as he looked to the two brothers for confirmation.

"Cas and Gabe? Aren't they the boys who adopted Charlie a couple months back?"

"Yeah."

"Let me take a look at you two," said Ellen as she popped her head around the door. She smiled when she saw that the Red Setter was accompanying them, her tail wagging contentedly as she licked her master's hand and received a scratch behind the ears from a doting owner.

"I think I'm gonna like you boys," she smirked as her daughter glanced around the door.

"Cas, Gabe, this is Ellen Harvelle and her daughter, Jo. They look sweet but don't be fooled, they have the bite of a Rottweiler," introduced Sam.

"Keep charmin' us like that, Winchester and you'll be sleepin' in the dog house," glared Ellen.

Sam grimaced, "Sorry, Ma'am."

"As for help, we wouldn't mind borrowin' one of you boys to clean out the main area, but you can't bring her in here," Ellen said as she gestured to Charlie.

"Give her to me and I'll take her to the house," offered Sam as he took Charlie's lead.

Charlie looked confused at leaving her master, but calmed when he patted her on her head with a reassuring "Go on girl. I'll be back later."

Ellen glanced to the two Novak brothers.

"Right then, anyone volunteering?"

Gabriel stepped forward, "Show me a brush and shovel and I'll get right on it."

Ellen motioned for him to follow her. "Right this way, sweetie."

Jo chuckled. "Honestly curious to see how long he'll last with her."

"My brother has a low tolerance for tedious tasks."

"Yeah, she's gonna eat him alive," laughed Sam.

"He's sharp when wit is involved," defended Cas.

"Probably not as quick as my mother though. She's had years of experience," commented Jo.

Castiel raised an eyebrow but said nothing more.

"Come on, Cas, lets see if we can find anything for you to do."

* * *

"Dean? Ash? You in here?" Sam shouted into the feed storage room in the stables.

"Ouch! Ash! You've only been working here nineteen years and you still can't pull a hay bale from the top of the stack without hitting something or someone! OUCH! Watch what you're doing with that!" Came Dean's voice as a blanket of loose hay rained down onto the stable floor.

Castiel and Sam glanced at each other warily before edging into the apparent war zone.

"Get out! Go on! Go work with the budgies or something!"

There was a thud as Ash lost his purchase on the bottom bale and fell to the floor, followed by a heavy skittering as he fled from the room with Dean throwing a hay net at his retreating back.

"Lousy Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie," grumbled Dean as he dusted himself off and rubbed at his newly sore temple.

"Cas?" Dean stopped mid-rub as he spotted the familiar figure. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for something to do," Sam cut in easily. "He and Gabriel have offered to help us around the sanctuary. You need anything doing?"

Dean looked surprised. "Really? Uh... sure, there are plenty of things that need to be done. Do you think you could give me a hand with the horses? I've cleaned them out, so all that needs to be done is tie up the hay nets and refill the water buckets."

Sam grinned at Cas and patted him on the back; "He forgot to tell you that you need to do that for sixty-three horses. Good luck." With that, the taller Winchester sauntered off to tend to the few farm animals they possessed.

"Long time no see, man," greeted Dean as he and Cas walked into the feed storage room to finish what Ash had poorly started.

"How are you?"

Cas shrugged, "Better now that I'm not being chased by unpredictable mares."

Dean laughed lightly, "Sorry about that, but if it makes you feel better, Lilith has gone back home to her owner now, so no worries about her anymore."

"That's good to hear."

"Right, the first thing I need to show you is how to tie a hay net up, so we'll fill these up and I'll show you the knot we use."

The blue eyed man nodded and filled the nets up by following the other man's example. When all the nets were filled, the pair hauled each one to their respective stable.

"Here, watch how I tie this up then you can have a go," said Dean as he strolled into a stable housing a jet-black Friesian mare.

He tied up the net slowly to let Castiel observe and when he was done he patted the mare on her hocks, to which she responded with a soft nicker and nuzzled Dean's side. She then sauntered slowly towards the fresh hay and sniffed it almost experimentally before diving straight in.

"Good girl, Jody," praised Dean as he closed the stable door and motioned for Cas to tie up the next net.

Castiel dragged the net in and immediately the stable's occupant pricked his ears up at the stranger. Far from being shy, the Shire horse edged closer to this new visitor and sniffed curiously at his clothes. Upon receiving a pat on the neck from the man, the horse relaxed and nudged at Cas' coat pocket.

There was a chuckle from Dean, "Sorry, Benny. He hasn't got anything for you. I, on the other hand, have," he said as he produced the treat bag which was constantly attached to his hip at all times.

The black and white beast whinnied in delight and nudged Cas as if to say 'Can you go and get that for me, please?' The trench coat wearing man not being fluent in horse language glanced to Dean nervously.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt you he just wants food."

A look of understanding flashed across Cas' face and he went back to the task of trying to tie the hay up.

After a few minutes of struggling, Dean laughed to himself and deemed it time to rescue the volunteer from Benny's impatient hoof stomping and playful pushes.

This time Cas watched Dean more closely and was able to tie the net up properly for the next stables they had to do.

"Careful with the next one," Dean warned as Cas came to last of the rescue and stray horses. "She can be tricky so watch your back. If you get into trouble just give me a shout," he called as he came to the last of the boarding horses.

Cas glanced to the temporary nameplate on the stable wall. It read 'Ruby'. When Castiel neared the door, the chestnut and white Spotted Saddle horse stared calculatingly at him. When he opened it, Ruby sensed his inexperience and reared threateningly making it so that Castiel almost had a face-full of hooves. He quickly tried to close the door, but Ruby was faster and shoved him harshly out of the way. She turned her rump in the fallen man's direction and kicked out, aiming directly for the human's head. Fortunately, Cas dropped his head and body flush with the floor and remained unscathed, but the mare wasn't finished, so when Cas pushed himself up to drag the hay net into the stable and leave as speedily as possible, she swung her head and dealt a strong blow to the man's back, causing him to fall directly into the stone wall of the stable with a shout.

Upon hearing Cas' cry of pain, Dean rushed into the stable where Ruby was leaving through the open door. Dean shouted fiercely at the escaping mare, startling her so that he had a chance to push her back into her stable and close the door. He shoved her roughly to the other side of the area and ran to Cas' side.

"Cas?! Cas?! Please tell me you're alright!" Dean pleaded as he tried to raise the fallen man from his position slumped on the floor. He glanced warily at the agitated mare who was aggressively scraping a hoof along the ground.

There was a groan from in front of Dean and he was relieved to find that Cas was trying to get up. He hauled the other man to his feet and dragged him out the door.

Dean wasted no time in checking Cas for injuries.

"Where did she get you? Are you bleeding? What did she do? How hard-?"

"I'm okay, Dean. She just caught me off guard," Cas interjected as he rubbed at his aching head.

"You were lying on the floor!"

"She is stronger than I anticipated. And faster."

"What happened?"

"She reared when I opened the door and knocked me over. When I got up she hit me in the back with her head and I fell."

Dean moved to Castiel's back to check for bleeding.

"No blood, but you'll probably have a bruise there tomorrow. If you want to go home, feel free to. I'll drive you back if you wish," he offered but Cas shook his head.

"I'm sure you've had worse."

Dean frowned concernedly but said nothing.

"Well, if you won't let me take you home, let me finish Eve's stable and we can go for a break," he reasoned a few moments later as he walked to the golden Akhal-Teke horse's stable.

This last horse was very tall and there was an air of grace about her as she raised her head majestically and looked on with mild interest at the two approaching humans. However, Castiel could feel the wariness emanating from Dean as he kept a close eye on the creature.

"You'd better not follow me in, Cas. This one seems tame but she's very unpredictable and a genius to boot. Stay there," he warned as he lugged the net into the stable, yet never taking his eyes off Eve.

He quickly tied the knot and rushed out of the stable when he heard the quiet sounds of the mare's hooves coming nearer.

Cas noticed that to a passer-by, she would seem fairly disinterested about the world around her, but he knew by the way her ears stood erect and how her eyes were so bright that the mare was constantly alert and watching her fellow stable mates.

He shivered slightly; there was something unnatural about that horse.

"Right then," Dean said as he brushed the hay off his clothes, "How about a drink?"

* * *

By the time Dean and Castiel had reached the house at the centre of the sanctuary, everyone else had already arrived.

"What took you so long, boy?" Bobby asked the older Winchester as he stood to shake Cas' hand in introduction.

"Name's Bobby. I believe you and the joker over there are brothers," he said as he motioned to a grinning Gabriel.

Dean walked to the cupboard to pull two mugs out.

"Make yourself at home, Cas. What do you want to drink? Tea, coffee, beer, Bobby's disgusting gut-rot?"

"Watch it boy."

"Coffee's fine, thanks."

Bobby huffed good-naturedly and turned to Dean,

"You still haven't answered my question. What took you so long? Is everything alright in the stables?"

Dean pulled a face. "The horses are fine, Cas on the other hand..."

Gabriel was immediately at his brother's side.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

With a withering glare in Dean's direction, Cas tried to placate his frantic brother.

"I'm fine. I was knocked over, that's all."

"_Knocked over?!_" Gabriel squawked.

"I wasn't watching what the horse was doing, so she 'got one over on me', as you would say."

"Are you hurt?"

"My head is a little sore from banging into the wall."

There was a thump and an indignant shout from Dean.

"Ouch! Ellen! What was that for?"

"You should be lookin' after him."

The smaller Winchester grumbled but eventually muttered an apology.

"...You banged into a wall? Were you kicked?" Gabe asked after a moment.

"No. She knocked me with her head. Look, Gabriel, I'm _fine_; there's no need to worry, as I told Dean earlier."

Gabriel looked ready to protest but thought better of it and with one concerned glance at his little brother, sat down at the table.

There was a curse from another room and Sam marched in holding a white envelope.

"We've got another one."

Dean almost dropped the cup of coffee as he handed it to Castiel.

He quickly scanned the letter from the tax office and fell back into a chair, groaning quietly.

"Six months," he muttered, "Six months until we close permanently."

The two Novak brothers raised their eyebrows simultaneously as the other staff began to mutter amongst themselves.

"What do you mean 'close permanently'?" Gabe asked.

Sam sighed heavily. "Honestly? We haven't got the funding to keep this place open. Running water, electricity and heating is all too expensive for a place with no visitors, no shop customers and only a few boarding animals which gain the minimum amount of money you could ask for. Don't forget we also have to pay for food for over five hundred animals. Truth is we're going to have to shut down in six months because nobody knows about us so we have nothing in the bank."

"What happens to the animals then?" Cas asked in sympathy.

"What can't be released into the wild is destroyed," replied Ash bitterly.

There were a few minutes of silence as the two Novaks processed that.

"...If you don't mind me asking, you two own this place, right?" Gabe asked and upon receiving two nods from the Winchesters, ploughed on.

"Then why don't you ask your parents for a little bit of help and pay them back when you can?" But the blonde realised he'd said the wrong thing when Bobby, Ash and the Harvelles held their breath and looked away.

Dean stared at Gabriel for what seemed like hours but was in reality only a few seconds.

"Our mother's dead," he said simply, "Died in a house fire six months after Sam was born."

Gabriel looked down ashamed, even though he knew he had no reason to be.

"Sorry."

"You didn't know."

Cas stayed quiet but upon realising no further explanation was forthcoming dared to ask, "What about your father?"

Dean's head snapped up sharply and his lips formed a thin line. There was a dry chuckle from Sam.

"He'd never help us; doesn't believe he should because we're not a business. He only helped in the past because Mom was alive and she loved the sanctuary. When she died, Dad wanted to sell it but Dean said he wanted to be closer to our mother. Four years later, he tried to get rid of it again, we said no and Bobby came to help. Dad left when Dean turned fourteen and I was ten. He said it was a waste of money and he'd tried so hard to get us to change our minds about keeping the place. Bobby stuck up for us and said we wanted to follow our mother and that he should respect that. There was an argument in which it was us three against him and he gave up. He just walked out and said when we wanted to live in the real world where people actually made money, give him a ring, but up 'til then, have fun with failing at looking after animals and don't ask for help from him when the banks come calling."

"Looks like he was right," mumbled Dean miserably.

"Your father. Ain't. Right," growled Bobby, making everyone jump. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: you're doing a good job of looking after these animals."

"We've got no customers, we're in debt, and there's six of us attending five hundred animals! How is that good?!" Dean seethed, throwing down the letter.

A silence fell over the room and Dean rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

Sam stood at his brother's side.

"Maybe we could put up posters? To advertise. It's worth a shot. We could try and spread the word about the sanctuary."

"Look how well that ended last time."

"We'll try again. Put more up in different places."

Castiel and Gabriel looked at each other.

"We'll help. We can tell others about it. After all, who better to tell about little fluffy animals than kids in a candy store?" Gabe offered.

"We live in an apartment. Surely we could tell the other residents about the sanctuary and they'll go on to tell their families," suggested Cas.

There were six hopeful eyes trained on the two brothers by this time.

"Seriously?" Dean asked desperately.

"Yup. As long as you don't let Cas become a horse's chew toy any more."

Suddenly the future looked a little brighter.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: WARNING: Light mentions of drugs. Hope you're enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it! I would love to hear your thoughts (Constructive criticism always welcome)!_

* * *

The Novak brothers became regular helpers on Saturdays and Sundays, bringing Charlie along occasionally and as it happened, Castiel became quite attached to a few of the horses in the stables, much to Dean's delight.

It had been three months since Gabe and Cas had offered to help spread the word about Sioux Falls Animal Sanctuary and so far, numbers of visitors had increased so much that the Winchesters were considering expanding the shop to keep up with demand of customers.

Gabriel had been true to his word about telling the children about the sanctuary from his position as owner of a sweet shop in the local town and there had been many young, bright-eyed children visiting and awing over the younger residents of Sioux Falls.

Benny had been in his element when the children had bounced eagerly over to him with carrots, chunks of apple, biscuits, oats and any other treat deemed fit for horse consumption. He pranced around and showed off his strength whenever youngsters were watching him in the field, earning cheers and laughs from his adoring audience.

Lisa had also been a topic of interest when it was discovered how close it was until she was to give birth to a young Belgian Warmblood foal. Children had cooed and talked to her while she lay in her stable, waiting for her offspring to be ready to see the world. Even the adults had payed attention when one of the staff had explained about her situation and behaviour.

Everything had been going great until one fateful day when Gabriel had failed to show up and even his brother couldn't understand why. However, business had continued as usual and it was only when the next day arrived and Gabriel turned up much later than usual with tired eyes, a defeated stance and his faithful Red Setter whining pitifully, tail between her legs, had the staff of the sanctuary realised that there was something terribly, terribly wrong.

"Brother? Is everything alright?" Cas asked worriedly as they sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, Charlie lying sadly over her owner's feet.

Gabe glanced up blankly and closed his eyes for a long while. Just when Castiel thought he wouldn't get an answer Gabe whispered in the most broken tone anyone had ever heard from him.

"I'm being investigated for drug dealing."

Seven heads shot up to gape at him in shock.

"...Gabe, why-?"

"Oh, come off it, Cas," snapped the blonde, "Do you really think I'd deal with anything like that? One of my staff has been found storing bags of white powder in the jars of sweets in the stock room. A parent of one of my customers reported smelling something funny when she opened a jar of sherbet and called the cops. Turns out there was thirty pounds of cocaine and 20 pounds of cannabis stored in several different places around my shop and the police now think that I've got something to do with it," he explained dejectedly.

Cas was quiet as he watched his brother slump miserably back into his seat, tears threatening to fall down the smaller man's face.

Suddenly, Gabriel found himself in the arms of his younger brother, who refused to let go even when Gabriel squirmed and wriggled in protest. Eventually, he admitted defeat and pressed further into the warmth and comfort of his brother, burying his face in Cas' shoulder.

"What if... What if the children... took some by accident...?" Worried Gabriel quietly as Cas tightened his grip.

"They won't have. Gabe, it's not your fault. You didn't know."

"The police are going to realise that you had nothing to do with it and they'll call the investigation off," said Sam as he squeezed Gabriel's shoulder reassuringly.

"They're talking about shutting me down for good," admitted Gabriel.

"Call a lawyer," suggested Dean.

"On what grounds? There's nothing to prove that I'm not involved! There are no witnesses, only my words against my staff and I can bet that they'll try and land me in it if they think that they can get a smaller sentence. I'm better not saying anything."

"Lay low for a bit. Don't say anything against your staff unless asked and tell the police the truth. No bias, just cold, hard facts and they should be able to tell that you had no idea what was going on," said Sam.

"Will I get a punishment?"

"Considering that you're the manager, I'd say yes, but as you're in the dark about it all I'm guessing it will be a warning or something like a slap on the wrist and you'll be done with it."

"Will I still be able to work?"

"Definitely."

Gabriel relaxed a bit more and couldn't help but smile slightly when he felt a warm tongue lick gently at his palm as his brother released him from his grip.

Charlie placed a paw on his knee when he finally looked under the table at her as if to ask 'Are you okay now?'

He stroked her affectionately and she rested her head in his lap peacefully.

"Thanks, guys," he choked out sincerely.

* * *

"Gabe! Cas! She's starting!" Jo hollered excitedly from the stable's main door.

It was two hours past closing time but all staff had remained in the sanctuary to prepare for the miracle that was about to occur.

The two Novaks ran into the stables, taking care to be as quiet as possible and each with a blanket in their arms.

Bobby, Dean and Ellen were beside Lisa, each trying to keep the Belgian Warmblood calm and uttering words of encouragement to the mare as she tried her hardest to give life to the being inside her.

There was a push and four small hooves became visible at her rear.

A few minutes later and a young grey, oak and white male foal was lying on the floor, determined to get to his feet.

When Castiel and Gabriel were allowed in, they immediately put the blankets around him to wipe off the excess fluids his mother had missed whilst cleaning him. Fortunately, Lisa trusted the eight staff members enough to let them near her offspring.

Gabriel grinned as two bright eyes looked curiously up at him.

"Well at least one good thing came out of today."

Castiel nodded and ran his fingers softly through the foal's mane.

"He's adorable," cooed Jo as she touched a flicking ear.

Dean watched proudly on as the foal tried again to get to his feet, only stumbling slightly and waddling unstably to his mother.

"What shall we call him?" Asked Ellen.

"How about 'Ben'?" Dean replied.

There were nods of agreement and the staff left the stable to allow mother and son to bond.

"Wish our family was like that," Gabriel muttered to his brother.

Castiel snorted. "As if that could ever happen."

"What of your family, anyway? Do we ever get to meet them or are they allergic to animals or something?" Asked Bobby gruffly, apparently having overheard the conversation.

"Yeah, I thought you two said you had two other brothers. Why not invite them down; we could all go for dinner. A sort of celebratory evening for the increase in visitors around here!" Sam suggested.

"Errr... Probably not the best idea," said Gabriel, pulling a face.

"Why not?"

"We aren't in the best favour with the rest of our family," replied Castiel.

"What do you mean? If you don't mind us askin'," added Ellen as an afterthought.

"We don't really keep in touch with our parents. Not after they basically disowned us for not following the family business," replied Gabe bitterly.

"Our parents are managers in a successful corporation in which they hoped to pass their wealth onto their children. However, only Michael and Lucifer wished to continue with the business and as such, our parents accused us of having no ambition and declared that we should seek advice from others if we were going to refuse to support the family. Our brothers didn't want to be associated with us so we left," Castiel elaborated.

At a loss as to what to say, the others remained quiet until Sam couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't you follow the family business?"

Gabe grinned, "We didn't want an office job."

Cas nodded in agreement, "City life seemed dull so we moved to a smaller town where we share an apartment."

"We can't get anything bigger until we earn enough money because mother and father dearest cut us off," added Gabriel with an indecipherable glance to his brother.

"Sorry to hear that," said Sam.

"No worries. We're doing alright. Well, we _were_," Gabriel said with a frown.

"You'll be fine, brother. It will get sorted."

"I hope so."

At that moment, there was a flash of orange and white and Castiel jumped in surprise as something soft rubbed against his leg.

He looked down to find two mischievous blue eyes sparkling up at him.

"Hello, Balthazar."

There was a flick of a tail and suddenly the fox leapt at Cas' chest, giving the human no choice but to catch him, which allowed Balthazar to nuzzle into the dark-haired man's neck.

Cas chuckled and scratched the fox behind one large, fluffy ear.

"You're affectionate today."

In reply, the fox shifted into a more comfortable position until he was lying across Castiel's outstretched arms.

"Looks like you're coming with us to get Charlie."

"You feed him too many treats. No wonder you and Jo are his favourites," commented Ellen.

Jo stuck her tongue out at her mother.

"You're only jealous that he doesn't love you as much."

Gabe shook his head in amusement.

"Come on, I'm sure Charlie is awaiting my return," he said as he made his way to the house, where his loyal Setter was patiently sitting at the door for him, tail beginning to wag as she heard his footsteps.


	5. Chapter 5

The next two months were difficult for Sioux Falls Animal Sanctuary and its staff. Gabriel had been down at the sanctuary nearly every day since his shop and its staff were under investigation with Cas sticking to his usual weekend stint. In those two months, numbers of visitors had decreased considerably and the sanctuary was losing money because of the extra upkeep of the new expansions the Winchesters had built to keep up with demand in the months prior.

Although the blonde had thankfully been found innocent in the whole drug ordeal, the candy store had been closed permanently by order of the health department.

Gabriel had been devastated.

The Sanctuary was back to square one: no money and no advertising opportunities saw bank and tax letters flying in quicker than usual, each one counting the number of months until they were shut down for good and all animals were taken away to be disposed of.

"Kevin! Kevin, stop! No! Get back here!" Yelled Dean as he chased after the pesky raccoon who had managed to snag the sack of bird food he had been using to fill up Zacharia's bowl.

The arrogant peacock had been in a bad mood to begin with and Kevin stealing his food was obviously the last straw as he took his frustrations out on Dean, fanning his bright tail feathers intimidatingly and pecking viciously at the man's ankles, causing Dean to perform an odd limping dance after the wily raccoon.

"Havin' trouble, boy?" Snickered Bobby.

"Shut up and help me catch him!"

"If you're gonna talk to me like that, I don't think I will."

"Bobby!"

There was a startled yelp from Kevin as he was manhandled by the elder male. Bobby yanked the sack from the raccoon's grasp and handed it to Dean.

"Happy?" He asked as he gently stroked the raccoon's chin, who had admitted defeat easily enough in favour of being cuddled by the warm human.

Dean narrowed his eyes and stomped/limped towards the still irritated peacock, who had his feathers displayed in a warning that should the older Winchester decide to get too close, he would repeat his earlier actions.

Crowley stood at the older man's feet, watching disinterestedly, before he looked up to Kevin and meowed an order for the raccoon to remove himself from his human. Kevin reluctantly complied, to the confusion of Bobby and the man found himself with an armful of black Burmese cat instead.

"You're a bully, you know that?"

He got a smug purr and two lazy yellow eyes staring up at him in response.

* * *

'Gabriel's been acting so forlorn recently,' Sam mused as he filled the bowl of a bright orange Tabby cat called Anna.

The short blonde male had been more than a little depressed since receiving the news of his shop being closed. He'd tried to put on a smile around the staff and the few visitors they now had at the sanctuary, but it was easy to see that each day was becoming harder for the older Novak brother as every time he searched for a job in the paper or on the computer, he came up with nothing. Sam sighed; he wished he could help his friend but he couldn't see how. The best he could do was support Gabe through this hard time and offer him a place to stay and a friendly ear if things got too much.

"Moaw."

Sam glanced down. A young Ragdoll cat had joined the Tabby and was looking up concernedly at him.

"I'm okay, Becky."

"Moaw."

"What?"

"_Moaw_."

"That doesn't help."

A look of concentration crossed Becky's face and she placed her front paws on Sam's legs. The human got the message and crouched down, allowing the Ragdoll to jump onto his lap and place her paws on his shoulders instead. At this point Anna also placed her front paws on Sam's knees. Both females stared intensely at the younger Winchester for what seemed like hours but was actually only a couple of minutes.

Sam huffed. "No idea what you're trying to say."

He stood and both cats hopped off him with a yowl of protest, which he ignored in favour of dumping their food bowls in front of them.

He glanced out of the window in search of inspiration when out the corner of his eye he spotted a ball of white fluff ambling up the path towards the kennels.

"Is that... Naomi?" He muttered to himself.

An epiphany struck him as he turned to the two cats behind him in slow motion.

"Oh."

He bolted for the door.

"NAOMI!"

Meanwhile a devious Persian cat was stalking her way towards the smelly creatures humans called 'Dogs'. She startled slightly when a flash of black landed beside her.

Upon spotting the black Burmese, she arched her back in warning and hissed at him. He blinked slowly at her and sat down, licking his paw deliberately to prove his disinterest in her well-being.

Naomi flicked her tail in annoyance and turned on the spot, ears falling back when she heard the warning growl from Crowley. She paced forward. No mangy stray was going to deter her curiosity just because his human pet didn't like her kind near the mutts.

All of a sudden, two pairs of arms grabbed her from behind and lifted her from the ground. She hissed and spat in irritation.

"What do you think your owner would say if he came back to find you looking like an Alsatian's chew toy?" Scolded the tallest human in the sanctuary.

Naomi bared her teeth in anger and clawed at his arms, drawing droplets of blood in his skin.

He yelped in pain and dropped her, where she made a break for it towards the stables, only to be pounced upon by Crowley. He tried to pin her but her small size allowed her to escape his grasp and she scratched out at him, making him jump back and allowing her to sprint towards the larger animals residing in the sanctuary.

Sam held his arm close and bent down to check that the Burmese was unharmed before running after her.

By the time Sam reached the stables, the Persian had hidden herself away and he was about to leave when he heard a soft whimper from an adjacent stable corridor. He walked cautiously towards the noise and gaped in shock when he saw a man in a trench-coat with his arms wrapped around a loveable white and black Shire horse, head buried into his neck, hiding small sobs.

"Cas?"

Caught off guard, the man whirled around, wide blue eyes staring nervously at Sam.

"You alright?" The younger Winchester asked hesitantly at seeing the tear tracks down his cheeks.

"I- Yes, I- " he looked to Benny, the beast staring reproachingly back.

"No," he admitted.

"Wanna talk about it?" Sam asked, edging closer.

Castiel sighed heavily, eyes glazing over as more tears threatened to fall.

"My wife, Amelia, she- "

Sam rushed over as the smaller man's shoulders shook with silent sobs. He pulled Cas in for a hug as the youngest Novak pressed his face into Sam's chest. When Castiel had calmed down enough to speak coherently, he whispered so lowly that Sam had to strain to hear him.

"The divorce papers have come through. She's actually going through with it. She wants me out of the house."

It was at this point that Dean sauntered into the stable with a net full of hay slung over his shoulder and promptly dropped it, scattering loose hay all over the freshly swept corridor when he saw the state Cas was in.

He practically flew to the pair, terrified that his friend had been injured.

"Cas? What happened? Are you hurt?"

"No...I...I thought that maybe she'd...maybe she'd have reconsidered. I was stupid to have even..." the disjointed sentences were choked out, the last one remaining unfinished as the smaller man pressed further into the warmth and comfort of his friend. Sam tightened his grip and glanced to his brother, mouthing the word 'divorce'. Dean immediately understood and rubbed Castiel's back reassuringly, muttering words of sympathy.

"Do you want to come back to the house? We can sit down there, I'll get you a drink and we can talk. Sound good?"

Cas pulled his gaze from the younger Winchester's clothes and managed a sniffly nod.

There was a soft nicker from Benny and Cas smiled sadly as he petted the horse gently. The Shire nudged the young Novak brother against his shoulder as if to say 'chin up, kid' and Cas wrapped his arms around the beast's neck, whispering a quiet "_Thankyou_" before following the two Sanctuary owners out of the stables.

When they reached the house, Sam sat next to Cas whilst Dean poured each of them a mug of steaming coffee. Cas took the cup gratefully as the elder Winchester took the seat on his other side. They were in the living room: a large but cosy room with a roaring fireplace, soft carpets and two large couches, which were dimly lit by mellow lamps.

Castiel nestled back into the smooth, leather couch.

"So, tell us what happened," started Dean.

The younger Novak sighed quietly, "I used to work in law enforcement. I was an Inspector and was due for a promotion to Chief Inspector the following month. Everyone had kept quiet about it, but I'd heard the Chief Superintendent talking about telling me the next week. I'd been so excited to go home and tell my wife; we'd been planning to have a child for a while and this raise would have been fantastic to provide her, or him, with a good start in life. She was so happy that night.

The day after, some government officials came in to the station and held a private meeting with my boss. Three hours later they walked out without a word to anyone else and my boss had this odd sort of look on his face as he watched them leave. He sighed and retired back to his office and the station never saw him for the rest of the day.

The next evening, a letter was delivered to our house. Thinking it was for the promotion I shouted for my wife and we both couldn't wait to see what it read.

It was a letter of redundancy. The officials had come in to tell us they were cutting back on unnecessary services and positions. Apparently I filed under that category.

My wife had been heartbroken at first, then she'd turned furious. She told me that I was useless and what kind of father was I going to be if I couldn't provide for a child? I was angry and upset and in retrospect so was she, but I didn't think and I told her that I was the only one working in the family so why didn't she pull her weight instead of sitting at home all day? Of course I knew that wasn't true and she was preparing the house for a family. We got into a fight and I slept on the couch. I apologised the next morning and I assumed she'd forgiven me, but she was more withdrawn after that, more reserved. She wasn't as chatty as she usually was with me but I just put it down to her being upset at me losing my job. We were both looking for any vacancies I could fill, but there were very few available and most were either too far away or too little money to even consider.

Skimming through the paper, I found out that the radio was looking for someone to sell Ad time in the morning. The pay was better than anything I'd previously searched for so I arranged an interview and got the job. It wasn't great money, but it was enough to get by on whilst I found something better. In the meantime, I was seeing less and less of my wife. She was going out more often and wouldn't tell me where.

One day, about four months later, she was waiting at the door as I came home from work. She wouldn't look at me as she told me she'd met someone else. I couldn't believe it and was about to ask her why she'd do that when she cut me off and said that she wanted me out of the house. When I finally realised what she'd asked for I said that she couldn't just kick me out of the house. That's when she told me she was filing for a divorce. She hadn't said anything prior to this and I just stood there in shock, so she slammed the door in my face.

That's when I went to Gabriel. My parents wouldn't care and Lucifer and Michael had made it clear that I wasn't to ask them for help with anything, so Gabriel was the only one who would take me in. I stayed with him for a week, hoping that she'd change her mind, but after no phone calls I gave up and visited the house. I was greeted by her new boyfriend who wanted me off _'his'_ property. I told him I paid the mortgages so this was _my_ house. Amelia saw me and immediately told me to leave. I was so irritated by the whole affair I said I would, as soon as retrieved my belongings. Gabriel gave me a place to stay for as long as I wanted and I'm embarrassed to say I still live with him because I can't afford a place of my own."

Castiel couldn't help but be proud of how little his voice had trembled during that monologue and judging by the expressions on the Winchester brothers' faces, so were they.

The trench coat-clad Novak felt an arm wind around his shoulders.

"Wow, Cas... I had no idea that..." Dean trailed off awkwardly as he dropped the other man's gaze. "You have no reason to be embarrassed. You've done nothing wrong. None of it is your fault," he tried again.

Cas managed a small smile and leaned into Dean's side, content that he had friends who were willing to help him. Actually, he felt a little better now that he had told someone other than his brother what was going on. It sill didn't really solve anything, but at least he knew that he had friends here.

Sam must have been thinking along the same lines as he decided to add "You know you can always call us, right? I mean, if you're ever in a tight spot again, just give us a ring."

"Yeah, who cares about _Amelia_? She doesn't know what she's given up. I say go through with the divorce; who wants to be tied to that? You're an okay guy, find someone better," encouraged Dean.

"She's just a bad apple," agreed Sam, "You're better getting rid of her; she'll only cause more problems if you don't."

Cas couldn't help but chuckle. "You two have no idea about love, do you? High school crushes don't count."

The two Winchesters adopted identical sheepish looks and shrugged silently.

"You're forgetting I planned on having a child with this woman. I spent seven years of my life with her; it's difficult to just up and leave." At the guilty stares, Castiel continued, "However, Amelia seems to have little trouble in moving on from me, so maybe you're right, maybe it's time for me to do the same."

The dark-haired man grinned when neither of the brothers was willing to meet his gaze.

"Morons," he said fondly as two pairs of eyes slowly rose to meet his own.

The three smiled at each other for a few moments before Dean cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"I think I've had my fill of chick-flick moments for the year, so uh... I'm gonna go clean out the duck houses... or something..."

Sam shook his head at his brother's antics before his eyes went wide when they heard screaming from outside.

The three shot off to the stables to find Ash clutching at a bloodied hand with his face red from pain.

"Ash?! What happened?" Dean shouted as he grabbed the hand to see how mangled it was.

The other man whimpered slightly in Dean's grip and nodded to a flash of white that had just disappeared behind the stables.

"It was in one of the hay bale- ow! I didn't know it was- owww! That hurts!" Ash moaned.

Dean rolled his eyes, "House. Now. Gotta stop the blood flow." He glanced to Sam and Cas, "You get a good look at what that was?"

Sam nodded hesitantly. "I think it was Naomi... I was chasing her when I found Cas..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence since Ash was shooting confused glances in his and Cas' direction.

Dean huffed, "Well if it is her, one of us needs to go and catch her."

"We'll go," Castiel replied without missing a beat as he looked to the taller Winchester.

At his brother's nod of confirmation Dean said "Good luck," before marching their co-worker to the house.

When the pair had finally cornered the Persian, who was hissing ferociously and clawing aggressively at the space that separated her and the humans, half an hour had passed and it was reaching lunchtime.

_'Just grab the cat, throw her back into her enclosure and we can finally take a break,' _mused Sam as he cautiously stalked closer to the feline.

But just as he reached out to capture her, a chipper voice came from behind, startling both men and allowing Naomi to make her escape between the younger man's legs.

"Cas! Sam! You'll never guess what happened to- were you in the middle of something?" Gabriel asked upon nearing the pair and spotting their defeated faces.

"No, I suppose not," sighed Sam as he wiped the sweat from the back of his neck, "Something you wanted to tell us?"

Gabriel's grin was brighter than the sun itself.

"I've got a job offer."

Sam and Cas' eyes widened and Gabriel suddenly found himself with an armful of baby brother.

"That's fantastic, Gabriel. Where?"

"Chocolatier a couple of blocks down from the candy store. They want me to be the head chef! I won't just sell the sweets, I'll make them!"

Sam couldn't help but chuckle at the Novaks' matching grins.

"I'm happy for you, Gabe and I judge by the way Castiel hasn't released you yet, your brother's proud too."

A full-blown laugh escaped the younger Winchester when the blue-eyed man flushed red and hastily let go of a giggling Gabriel.

He muttered something which sounded suspiciously like "Well done, brother," before glancing longingly at the house.

Sam took pity on him; they could catch Naomi after a cup of coffee. "Come on you two, I'm sure the others would love to hear the news."

Gabriel's smile got impossibly wider as he practically _skipped _towards the house.

"If your brother thinks he's gonna get a reduction, tell him I laughed."


End file.
